


Breaking the surface

by ohmy_chicken



Series: ‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾  skz oneshots  ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙ [2]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Bang Chan is a Sweetheart, Beach Trip, Crying, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Jilix are irritating, Lee Minho | Lee Know is Whipped, M/M, Minho is scared of swimming in deep waters, Panic Attacks, Trauma, but they're at a lake instead, fear of deep waters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-02-23
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:21:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22860919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohmy_chicken/pseuds/ohmy_chicken
Summary: In which Minho suffers a trauma of nearly drowning, making sure he never swims again. He's been terrified of deep waters ever since.Enter Jilix throwing Minho into the water and Chris coming to his rescue.(Low key inspired by that one skz talker)
Relationships: Bang Chan/Lee Minho | Lee Know
Series: ‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾  skz oneshots  ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙ [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1622299
Comments: 6
Kudos: 127





	Breaking the surface

“Hurry up hyung! We don’t wanna be late because you’re being a snail” Jisung exclaims on the other side of the closed door. Minho had rushed up to his room the second the members decided to go to the beach.

It’s not that he doesn’t want to join them. He’s just never really told them about his fear for water, being embarrassed to the point that he’d rather jump off a cliff than tell his friends. 

It all started when he was young. There was a barbeque at his aunt’s place, and they own a swimming pool. He’d been fooling around with his cousins, playing tag and having fun, when he got pushed into the water. 

He’d be struggling, gasping for air. He wasn’t good at swimming since his parents couldn’t afford classes, and that had been a danger for situations like these. The air got knocked out of his lungs as he was close to passing out.

Luckily, his uncle had doven in and pulled him out of the water, giving him cpr for good measure. The event had changed his life, making him scared of any big waters. At first, he even refused to use a bathtub. Luckily, bathtubs and showers didn’t matter anymore, but he refused to swim in pools and lakes, and definitely not the sea. 

Eying the door one last time, where jisung had been yelling at him to hurry up for the past minutes, he snatches his swimming trunks and a bag with needed stuff he needs, joining the others in the van.

“What took you so long?” “Yeah hyung, we had to wait up for you,” Felix and Jisung whine as Woojin starts the van. He sighs, coming up with a lame excuse before shoving in his earbuds, blocking the younger’s protests and questions.

It doesn’t take long before they arrive at their destination; a small lake in the south of Seoul. It’s the less crowded part of the district, being filled with nature instead of the buzzing of the huge cities and enormous buildings.

The youngers take a sprint towards the water, betting on who’s first at the lake, while the older boys stay behind to grab the picnic basket, towels and sunscreen, picking a nice spot to settle down.

Woojin and Chris quickly put down a blanket, having Minho set out the food. Not long after the others leave towards the water too, leaving Minho at the blanket, expecting him to follow.

Yet, Minho choses to make himself comfortable in the sand, building up a small sand castle. It turns out well, getting decorated by several shells and sticks. The castle is standing neatly next to the plaid blanket as Minho looks up, seeing the others having fun in the water. 

His eyes wander towards two certain Australians who are currently competing on who’s the fastest swimmer. As expected, the older wins. Chris smiles at the younger, probably telling him he did great and that he’ll surely beat the older next time.  _ Sounds like something Chris would say. _

Minho knew about Chris’ past as a swimmer, having seen all of his medals and trophies back in Australia. His mother had proudly presented them to the eight boys, Chris being an embarrassed blushing mess while hiding behind the comfort of his mother. He had joined and won many competitions, making Minho rather jealous.

He wishes he could be like Chris, he wishes he could swim. He looks at the older in admiration, seeing him make his way through the water quickly, surprise attacking Jeongin with a huge splash of water. The younger tackles him playfully in response, sending them both crashing into the water.

Minho sighs, looking down at his sandcastle. Earlier he’d been proud of it, eager to show it to the others, but now it just seemed lame. Oh how he’d love to have someone by his side. 

He looks back at the water, mentally counting the members. 5...6…. 6? His face scrunches up in confusion, missing two of the boys. Yet, before he can turn back to his sand castle he can feel two hands slide under his armpits, and two others grab his ankles.

Before he can bring a protest he gets lifted off the floor, making his brows shoot up. He looks up, seeing a grinning Felix at his feet and Jisung at his head.  _ No, no, no, not again. _

His stomach drops, aching uncomfortably as panic rises in his chest. He looks around for any source of help as he’s nearing the water way too quickly for his liking. He scans his friends’ faces, seeing them laughing too. _ You don’t get it, it’s not funny, HELP. _

He’s now dangling above the water, muttering quick and small protests as the two boys don’t seem to take him seriously. This is escalating way too quickly, but anxiety seems to catch up with him just fine. “Please, please don’t, please put me back, please, j-jisung-” The two start counting down, ignoring the older’s pleas, assuming the older is just joking. 

Minho doesn’t seem to notice that at least one of his friends had noticed his pleas, looking at him worriedly. The second they started swinging him, counting down, a certain Australian gets into action, swimming towards the boys at an alarming speed.

Minho feels the two younger boys let go of his limbs as he squeezes his eyes shut. He inhales deeply, expecting to hit the water. Yet, the water only hits his skin for a split second before he’s pulled out of it. He opens his eyes to see Chris looking down at him, worry in his eyes. 

And right at that moment he bursts into tears, as if a closed dam had opened. Sobs were racking through him as he clings to Chris, his hands firmly on the older's bicep. There was still a feeling of slight fear pooling in his stomach, as his head started to sting with a dull headache.

He didn't even know they were making their way to the shore until he opened his eyes again, his sobs calming down. The world still seemed blurry, but it was getting better.

All he can be is thankful as he gets dragged away from the group and put down on the beach blanket. His limbs, his legs and hands mostly, are shaking. “Thank you,” He says, wiping away the tears that had made its way down his cheeks. 

Chris nods, but never looks away from the younger. “Are you okay?” He asks with a hint of hesitance. The younger can only nod, looking at his other friends in the water, they are also confused, he notices. He's embarrassed over his outburst earlier.  _ What must they think? _

“Are you sure? You seemed really freaked out just now,” The older pushes. Minho had expected him to do so, though, since his name is still Christopher Bang. He looks back at the older, shrugging ever so slightly. He feels weak. 

“I-i just-” He starts, gulping. Is it really a good idea to tell him? He looks at the older, seeing the way he worries and cares for him. “Don’t feel pressured, but i just want to help,” Chris adds.

Somehow, the words make him feel safe instead of nervous as he loosens up a bit. He states that, whatever happens, Chris would never hurt him in any way. “I-i’ve had a trauma and ever since…  _ that  _ happened i haven’t really been able to swim,”

While confessing this, he hasn’t been able to look up from the (apparently interesting) blanket they were sitting on. He doesn’t know what he’d expected he older to do, but what he does know is that he didn’t expect the older to scoot over and wrap his arms around his shoulders. Out of habit, he leans into the touch, sighing in content. 

“Why didn’t you tell us before?” He hears the older say, carding his fingers through his brown locks, which seemed to calm the boy. “I-i felt embarrassed, i mean it’s s-something s-so simple a-and-” “If it’s a trauma it’s not just ‘ _ something so simple’  _ is it?” The older interrupts him.

He doesn’t get to answer the statement as he feels the older get up. He swiftly turns around to see the older offering him a hand, waiting for him to accept it. “Let me try to help,” He smiles ever so softly, looking into the younger’s soul, making his eyes soften.

Anxiety starts to build in his chest again as his eyes shift to look anywhere but Chris, not wanting to embarrass himself. Yet, his eyes meet the other’s anyways when the guy lets out a small ‘please’. Hesitantly, he nods, taking the elder's hand. 

They make their way back to the water. They're a few meters away from the others (Chris had stopped by to tell them not to worry, that he had everything under control)

They slowly walk into the water, never loosening the grasp on their hands. Everything is well until the water hits Minho's thighs, as if his brain starts to register what's happening. 

Minho subconsciously scoots closer to Chris, his hand gripping the other's smaller one a little bit more firmly. "Hey, its okay," Chris starts.

"We're just walking, see?" Chris takes a few more steps into the water, softly tugging Minho along. The other can only look at the water, trying to focus on their feet moving along the sand. The water seems to get darker, making it harder to see exactly where they're walking.

"Minho,  _ baby, _ look at me," The pet name makes his cheeks flare as his gaze snaps up to meet the other's. Chris' gaze seems so genuine, his thumb rubbing the back of Minho's hand. "You're going to be okay, i won't let anything bad happen to you."

Chris talks to him as he continues slowly tugging him further into the water, the liquid hitting their hips now. "I need you to trust me. I promise nothing will happen, just focus on me,  _ okay?" _ Minho nods, slightly relaxing more.

"Now, i promise you, it won't be as bad as it seems once you're really in there," Chris smiles. At this point Minho was paying all his attention to Chris and nothing else. He seemed so warm and welcoming, Minho almost felt smitten for him.

His warm smiles and genuine touches always made him feel ways he probably shouldn't. But how could he not? It had always been Chris to listen to his problems, even if it was one at night and the others were dead asleep. It was Chris who went with him on the zipline because the others just laughed at him for being scared. It was Chris who stole his heart right out of his ribcage, and he still hadn't fully figured out what to do with that information.

"See? This isn't that bad, is it?" Chris asks. It is only now that the younger realizes the water is nearly hitting his shoulders.

Oddly, he felt less panicked than he expected to be. Little did he know that Chris just made him feel safe and protected, as if he could do absolutely  _ anything  _ with the older around.

Suddenly, as if a shock went through him, he felt brave. He felt brave enough to pull up his feet to float in the water by himself. He smiled, feeling his body drift in the water calmly.

"See? You're doing it!" Chris smiles. Minho giggles, drifting around in the water, the older watching fondly. Something about seeing Minho so happy and carefree made his heart do things.

The younger was giggling, splashing the water around and moving around in it. He hadn't been able to do this since the accident and it felt amazing. He'd forgotten how carefree he felt when in the water, and enjoyed it way more than he thought he would.

In the rush of the moment he flung himself at Chris, arms draped across his shoulders in a hug. "Thank you so much, Chris," he smiled, head on the other's shoulder. 

"No need to thank me, you also took part in this," the older chuckled, but the younger shook his head, leaning back to look him in the eyes. "No, you helped me. Trust me when i say i couldn't have done this without you," they lock eyes as Minho speaks.

It seems a lot like a staring contest, except it's not a contest and it's just them taking in each other's presence. As if on que, both of the boys start leaning in, and Minho could feel his heartbeat pounding in his throat, but he wasn't bothered to care.

When their lips met, it wasn't exactly like fireworks. It was more the taste of salty water and the feeling of Chris' chapped lips on his, but it was probably the best kiss Minho had had in his entire life.

Something about the older just made his muscles numb.  _ Calm down Minho, we've gone over this, you're completely gone for Christopher bang _ .

When they broke apart both broke into a grin, one of those really stupid ones you simply couldn't help but show. "I've been wanting to do that for a while," Chris starts,  _ was that a slight dust of pink on his cheeks? _

"Y-yeah, me too," Minho replies, cheeks dusted in a similar shade of pink. And now he knew that maybe,  _ just maybe, _ Chris had just been as smitten for Minho as the younger for the latter.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


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**All copyright reserved**

**ohmy_chicken©**

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**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Thank you so much for reading my work :) Let me know what you think! You can also leave requests 
> 
> ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* kudos and comments are appericiated *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧


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